Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, with a five-year prevalence of 464,063 patients in 2012. Mortality rates are very similar to incidence rates (400,169 versus 455,784 in 2012), pointing out the high fatality of esophageal cancer (World Cancer Report, 2014; Ferlay et al., 2013; Bray et al., 2013).
Squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma represent the two most common subtypes of esophageal cancer. Both subtypes are more common in men than in women, but they display distinct geographical distributions. Squamous cell carcinoma is more prevalent in low-resource regions with particularly high incidence rates in the Islamic Republic of Iran, parts of China and Zimbabwe. Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of esophageal cancer among Caucasians and populations with a high socioeconomic status, with the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands and the USA leading the way. The strongest risk factors for the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma include alcohol and tobacco consumption, whereas esophageal adenocarcinoma is mainly associated with obesity and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Incidence rates of esophageal adenocarcinoma are steadily rising in high-income countries, which might be attributed to increasing rates of obesity and gastro-esophageal reflux disease as well as to changes in the classification of tumors at the gastro-esophageal junction. Neuroendocrine carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, muco-epidermoid carcinoma, mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma, different sarcomas and melanoma represent rarer subtypes of esophageal cancer (World Cancer Report, 2014).
The primary treatment strategy for esophageal cancer depends on tumor stage and location, histological type and the medical condition of the patient. Surgery alone is not sufficient, except in a small subgroup of patients with squamous cell carcinoma. In general, surgery should be combined with pre- and eventually post-operative chemotherapy or pre-operative chemoradiation, while pre- or post-operative radiation alone was shown to confer no survival benefit. Chemotherapeutic regimens include oxaliplatin plus fluorouracil, carboplatin plus paclitaxel, cisplatin plus fluorouracil, FOLFOX and cisplatin plus irinotecan. Patients with HER2-positive tumors should be treated according to the guidelines for gastric cancer using a combination of cisplatin, fluorouracil and trastuzumab, as randomized data for targeted therapies in esophageal cancer are very limited (Stahl et al., 2013; Leitlinie Magenkarzinom, 2012).
In general, most types of esophageal cancer are well manageable, if patients present with early-stage tumors, whereas therapeutic success is very limited in later stages. Thus, development of new screening protocols could be very effective in reducing esophageal cancer-related mortality rates (World Cancer Report, 2014).
Immunotherapy might be a promising novel approach to treat advanced esophageal cancer. Several cancer-associated genes and cancer-testis antigens were shown to be over-expressed in esophageal cancer, including different MAGE genes, NY-ESO-1 and EpCAM (Kimura et al., 2007; Liang et al., 2005b; Inoue et al., 1995; Bujas et al., 2011; Tanaka et al., 1997; Quillien et al., 1997). Those genes represent very interesting targets for immunotherapy and most of them are under investigation for the treatment of other malignancies (ClinicalTrials.gov, 2015). Furthermore, up-regulation of PD-L1 and PD-L2 was described in esophageal cancer, which correlated with poorer prognosis. Thus, esophageal cancer patients with PD-L1-positive tumors might benefit from anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy (Ohigashi et al., 2005).
Clinical data on immunotherapeutic approaches in esophageal cancer are still relatively scarce at present, as only a very limited number of early phase clinical trials have been completed (Toomey et al., 2013). A vaccine consisting of three peptides derived from three different cancer-testis antigens (TTK protein kinase, lymphocyte antigen 6 complex locus K and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II mRNA binding protein 3) was administered to patients with advanced esophageal cancer in a phase I trial with moderate results (Kono et al., 2009). Intra-tumoral injection of activated T cells after in vitro challenge with autologous malignant cells and interleukin 2 elicited complete or partial tumor responses in four of eleven patients in a phase I/II study (Toh et al., 2000; Toh et al., 2002). Further clinical trials are currently performed to evaluate the impact of different immunotherapies on esophageal cancer, including adoptive cellular therapy (NCT01691625, NCT01691664, NCT01795976, NCT02096614, NCT02457650) vaccination strategies (NCT01143545, NCT01522820) and anti-PD-L1 therapy (NCT02340975) (ClinicalTrials.gov, 2015).
Considering the severe side-effects and expense associated with treating cancer, there is a need to identify factors that can be used in the treatment of cancer in general and esophageal cancer in particular. There is also a need to identify factors representing biomarkers for cancer in general and esophageal cancer in particular, leading to better diagnosis of cancer, assessment of prognosis, and prediction of treatment success.
Immunotherapy of cancer represents an option of specific targeting of cancer cells while minimizing side effects. Cancer immunotherapy makes use of the existence of tumor associated antigens.
The current classification of tumor associated antigens (TAAs) comprises the following major groups:
a) Cancer-testis antigens: The first TAAs ever identified that can be recognized by T cells belong to this class, which was originally called cancer-testis (CT) antigens because of the expression of its members in histologically different human tumors and, among normal tissues, only in spermatocytes/spermatogonia of testis and, occasionally, in placenta.
Since the cells of testis do not express class I and II HLA molecules, these antigens cannot be recognized by T cells in normal tissues and can therefore be considered as immunologically tumor-specific. Well-known examples for CT antigens are the MAGE family members and NY-ESO-1.
b) Differentiation antigens: These TAAs are shared between tumors and the normal tissue from which the tumor arose. Most of the known differentiation antigens are found in melanomas and normal melanocytes. Many of these melanocyte lineage-related proteins are involved in biosynthesis of melanin and are therefore not tumor specific but nevertheless are widely used for cancer immunotherapy. Examples include, but are not limited to, tyrosinase and Melan-A/MART-1 for melanoma or PSA for prostate cancer.
c) Over-expressed TAAs: Genes encoding widely expressed TAAs have been detected in histologically different types of tumors as well as in many normal tissues, generally with lower expression levels. It is possible that many of the epitopes processed and potentially presented by normal tissues are below the threshold level for T-cell recognition, while their over-expression in tumor cells can trigger an anticancer response by breaking previously established tolerance. Prominent examples for this class of TAAs are Her-2/neu, survivin, telomerase, or WT1.
d) Tumor-specific antigens: These unique TAAs arise from mutations of normal genes (such as β-catenin, CDK4, etc.). Some of these molecular changes are associated with neoplastic transformation and/or progression. Tumor-specific antigens are generally able to induce strong immune responses without bearing the risk for autoimmune reactions against normal tissues. On the other hand, these TAAs are in most cases only relevant to the exact tumor on which they were identified and are usually not shared between many individual tumors. Tumor-specificity (or -association) of a peptide may also arise if the peptide originates from a tumor- (-associated) exon in case of proteins with tumor-specific (-associated) isoforms.
e) TAAs arising from abnormal post-translational modifications: Such TAAs may arise from proteins which are neither specific nor overexpressed in tumors but nevertheless become tumor associated by posttranslational processes primarily active in tumors. Examples for this class arise from altered glycosylation patterns leading to novel epitopes in tumors as for MUC1 or events like protein splicing during degradation which may or may not be tumor specific.
f) Oncoviral proteins: These TAAs are viral proteins that may play a critical role in the oncogenic process and, because they are foreign (not of human origin), they can evoke a T-cell response. Examples of such proteins are the human papilloma type 16 virus proteins, E6 and E7, which are expressed in cervical carcinoma.
T-cell based immunotherapy targets peptide epitopes derived from tumor-associated or tumor-specific proteins, which are presented by molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The antigens that are recognized by the tumor specific T lymphocytes, that is, the epitopes thereof, can be molecules derived from all protein classes, such as enzymes, receptors, transcription factors, etc. which are expressed and, as compared to unaltered cells of the same origin, usually up-regulated in cells of the respective tumor.
There are two classes of MHC-molecules, MHC class I and MHC class II. MHC class I molecules are composed of an alpha heavy chain and beta-2-microglobulin, MHC class II molecules of an alpha and a beta chain. Their three-dimensional conformation results in a binding groove, which is used for non-covalent interaction with peptides.
MHC class I molecules can be found on most nucleated cells. They present peptides that result from proteolytic cleavage of predominantly endogenous proteins, defective ribosomal products (DRIPs) and larger peptides. However, peptides derived from endosomal compartments or exogenous sources are also frequently found on MHC class I molecules. This non-classical way of class I presentation is referred to as cross-presentation in the literature (Brossart and Bevan, 1997; Rock et al., 1990). MHC class II molecules can be found predominantly on professional antigen presenting cells (APCs), and primarily present peptides of exogenous or transmembrane proteins that are taken up by APCs e.g. during endocytosis, and are subsequently processed.
Complexes of peptide and MHC class I are recognized by CD8-positive T cells bearing the appropriate T-cell receptor (TCR), whereas complexes of peptide and MHC class II molecules are recognized by CD4-positive-helper-T cells bearing the appropriate TCR. It is well known that the TCR, the peptide and the MHC are thereby present in a stoichiometric amount of 1:1:1.
CD4-positive helper T cells play an important role in inducing and sustaining effective responses by CD8-positive cytotoxic T cells. The identification of CD4-positive T-cell epitopes derived from tumor associated antigens (TAA) is of great importance for the development of pharmaceutical products for triggering anti-tumor immune responses (Gnjatic et al., 2003). At the tumor site, T helper cells, support a cytotoxic T cell- (CTL-) friendly cytokine milieu (Mortara et al., 2006) and attract effector cells, e.g. CTLs, natural killer (NK) cells, macrophages, and granulocytes (Hwang et al., 2007).
In the absence of inflammation, expression of MHC class II molecules is mainly restricted to cells of the immune system, especially professional antigen-presenting cells (APC), e.g., monocytes, monocyte-derived cells, macrophages, dendritic cells. In cancer patients, cells of the tumor have been found to express MHC class II molecules (Dengjel et al., 2006).
Elongated (longer) peptides of the invention can act as MHC class II active epitopes.
T-helper cells, activated by MHC class II epitopes, play an important role in orchestrating the effector function of CTLs in anti-tumor immunity. T-helper cell epitopes that trigger a T-helper cell response of the TH1 type support effector functions of CD8-positive killer T cells, which include cytotoxic functions directed against tumor cells displaying tumor-associated peptide/MHC complexes on their cell surfaces. In this way tumor-associated T-helper cell peptide epitopes, alone or in combination with other tumor-associated peptides, can serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients of vaccine compositions that stimulate anti-tumor immune responses.
It was shown in mammalian animal models, e.g., mice, that even in the absence of CD8-positive T lymphocytes, CD4-positive T cells are sufficient for inhibiting manifestation of tumors via inhibition of angiogenesis by secretion of interferon-gamma (IFNγ) (Beatty and Paterson, 2001; Mumberg et al., 1999). There is evidence for CD4 T cells as direct anti-tumor effectors (Braumuller et al., 2013; Tran et al., 2014).
Since the constitutive expression of HLA class II molecules is usually limited to immune cells, the possibility of isolating class II peptides directly from primary tumors was previously not considered possible. However, Dengjel et al. were successful in identifying a number of MHC Class II epitopes directly from tumors (WO 2007/028574, EP 1 760 088 B1).
Since both types of response, CD8 and CD4 dependent, contribute jointly and synergistically to the anti-tumor effect, the identification and characterization of tumor-associated antigens recognized by either CD8+ T cells (ligand: MHC class I molecule+peptide epitope) or by CD4-positive T-helper cells (ligand: MHC class II molecule+peptide epitope) is important in the development of tumor vaccines.
For an MHC class I peptide to trigger (elicit) a cellular immune response, it also must bind to an MHC-molecule. This process is dependent on the allele of the MHC-molecule and specific polymorphisms of the amino acid sequence of the peptide. MHC-class-1-binding peptides are usually 8-12 amino acid residues in length and usually contain two conserved residues (“anchors”) in their sequence that interact with the corresponding binding groove of the MHC-molecule. In this way each MHC allele has a “binding motif” determining which peptides can bind specifically to the binding groove.
In the MHC class I dependent immune reaction, peptides not only have to be able to bind to certain MHC class I molecules expressed by tumor cells, they subsequently also have to be recognized by T cells bearing specific T cell receptors (TCR).
For proteins to be recognized by T-lymphocytes as tumor-specific or -associated antigens, and to be used in a therapy, particular prerequisites must be fulfilled. The antigen should be expressed mainly by tumor cells and not, or in comparably small amounts, by normal healthy tissues. In a preferred embodiment, the peptide should be over-presented by tumor cells as compared to normal healthy tissues. It is furthermore desirable that the respective antigen is not only present in a type of tumor, but also in high concentrations (i.e. copy numbers of the respective peptide per cell). Tumor-specific and tumor-associated antigens are often derived from proteins directly involved in transformation of a normal cell to a tumor cell due to their function, e.g. in cell cycle control or suppression of apoptosis. Additionally, downstream targets of the proteins directly causative for a transformation may be up-regulated and thus may be indirectly tumor-associated. Such indirect tumor-associated antigens may also be targets of a vaccination approach (Singh-Jasuja et al., 2004). It is essential that epitopes are present in the amino acid sequence of the antigen, in order to ensure that such a peptide (“immunogenic peptide”), being derived from a tumor associated antigen, leads to an in vitro or in vivo T-cell-response.
Basically, any peptide able to bind an MHC molecule may function as a T-cell epitope. A prerequisite for the induction of an in vitro or in vivo T-cell-response is the presence of a T cell having a corresponding TCR and the absence of immunological tolerance for this particular epitope.
Therefore, TAAs are a starting point for the development of a T cell based therapy including but not limited to tumor vaccines. The methods for identifying and characterizing the TAAs are usually based on the use of T-cells that can be isolated from patients or healthy subjects, or they are based on the generation of differential transcription profiles or differential peptide expression patterns between tumors and normal tissues. However, the identification of genes over-expressed in tumor tissues or human tumor cell lines, or selectively expressed in such tissues or cell lines, does not provide precise information as to the use of the antigens being transcribed from these genes in an immune therapy. This is because only an individual subpopulation of epitopes of these antigens are suitable for such an application since a T cell with a corresponding TCR has to be present and the immunological tolerance for this particular epitope needs to be absent or minimal. In a very preferred embodiment of the invention it is therefore important to select only those over- or selectively presented peptides against which a functional and/or a proliferating T cell can be found. Such a functional T cell is defined as a T cell, which upon stimulation with a specific antigen can be clonally expanded and is able to execute effector functions (“effector T cell”).
In case of targeting peptide-MHC by specific TCRs (e.g. soluble TCRs) and antibodies or other binding molecules (scaffolds) according to the invention, the immunogenicity of the underlying peptides is secondary. In these cases, the presentation is the determining factor.